Toldos – Breaking Barriers

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After nearly two decades of infertility, Isaac and Rebecca conceive, but something does not feel right. Whenever Rebecca passes a house of Torah, she feels her baby stir and get all excited as if he wants to be born. Seemingly, her child is drawn to holiness. Yet when Rebecca passes a temple of idolatry, the same thing happens. What is going on? To resolve her dilemma Rebecca visits the prophet who tells her that she is pregnant with twins, one who is drawn to Torah and one who is drawn to sin. This podcast discusses a very interesting philosophical problem with this narrative and what it implies.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in loving memory of Reyna Hiller who passed away a few months back at the untimely age of 33, leaving behind her husband and 8 yo son. May she merit an ascension in Heaven and may the Almighty provide comfort to her family

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Contact:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.org
Twitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcasts Links:

This Jewish Life – A Podcast About Jewish Philosophy: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Jewish History Podcast – The podcast telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish Peoples: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly podcast of analyzing and Exploring the Parsha: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
TORAH 101 – A Podcast about the Divinity of Torah and the relationship between the Written and Oral Torah: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
Eternal Ethics – The Pirkei Avos Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher.
The Mitzvah Podcast – Surveying the 613 Mitzvos of the Torah: Apple Podcasts

Extreme Measures (4:4)

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 25:16 — 11.6MB)

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My wise grandmother, of blessed memory, used to quip, “Everything in moderation.” That sagacious advice is, in fact, the backbone of Rambam’s understanding of proper character. In every trait, there are two polar extremes, and both are not ideal. The balanced approach, the golden medium, the moderate middle, the midpoint between both extremes – that is the sweet spot to strive for. But there is one exception. There is one character trait that is so harmful and dangerous, that extreme measures are necessary.

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The Eternal Ethics podcast is dedicated in the merit of the speedy and total recovery of Avraham Ben Faiga.

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

#24: Prophecy: An Introduction

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 48:45 — 22.3MB)

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Rambam’s Thirteen Principles of Faith can be divided into three general concepts: God, Torah, and Reward and Punishment. The first five principles oriented around the Jewish understanding of God. The four Principles from six through nine revolve around Torah. The first of those Principles in the concept of prophecy in general. In this podcast, we familiarize ourselves with the basic framework of prophecy: What does it take to become a prophet? How would the prophet receive prophecy? What is the content of those communications? How does the community vet a self-proclaimed prophet?

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Parshas Toldos (Rebroadcast)

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In Parshas Toldos we meet twin boys that are polar opposites: Esau, beloved by his father Isaac, is a man of the fields; while Jacob is loved by his mother Rebecca and prefers to dwell in the tents of scholarship. These two children will spawn nations and ideals that diverged from each other even before they were born.

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Chayei Sara – The Four Ways to Die

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 26:53 — 12.3MB)

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This podcast contains two ideas on Parshas Chayei Sara. First, we examine the Torah’s unusual description of Sarah’s location of death. Then we probe the identity and nickname of Abraham’s second wife, Keturah.

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

The Critical Hour (4:3)

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 32:14 — 14.8MB)

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How valuable is an hour of time? How much of a person’s life can be changed in one hour? In this mishna, Ben Azzai teaches us the power of a single hour.

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Parshas Chayei Sara (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 56:23 — 25.8MB)

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Some of the highlights of this week’s parsha: Immediately after the Binding of Isaac, Sarah passed away at the age of 127, and soon afterward Abraham had to procure a burial spot for her. In addition, Abraham sent his trusted confidante, Eliezer, to his hometown to find a spouse for Isaac.

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Vayeira – Abraham’s Failures?

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 33:41 — 15.4MB)

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A casual reading of our parsha would give the impression that Abraham fails at everything he tries: He tries to feed guests, yet we find out that they are angels who need no food; He tries valiantly to save Sodom and Gomorrah, yet God overturns the city nonetheless; He tries to find safety and sustenance; yet his wife taken by the local ruler; He tries to raise his son Ishmael well, yet has to banish him; He tries to sacrifice his son, yet he is not even allowed to make a small incision. In this podcast we offer an explanation for this bizarre phenomenon.

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This Parsha Podcast in sponsored in honor of David and Suzanne Gelb by their loving children, and we thank them for their support of TORCH!

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Lech Lecha – How Small Steps Yield Huge Results + New TORCH Initiative

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 27:53 — 12.8MB)

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This week’s Parsha orients around our patriarch, Abraham, and more specifically his 10 tests that formed his spiritual makeup, and more broadly the spiritual fabric of our nation. In this podcast, we dwell on the first of those tests – when Abraham is commanded to abandon his homeland and travel to Canaan/Israel.

To participate in the TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover Initiative, please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Ep. 69: The Yom Kippur War (Part Four: Ceasefire and Aftermath)

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 53:55 — 24.7MB)

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The turning point in the trajectory of the State of Israel was the Yom Kippur War. In almost every way, the history of the State can be divided into two eras, before and after this pivotal conflict. In the fourth and final installment on the Yom Kippur War, we tell the stories of the war’s final days and assess the seismic changes that the State of Israel has undergone in the four and a half decades since this conflict.

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This Jewish History podcast is sponsored by Mike Fisher in loving memory of his father, Meier ben Feitl v’ Shayneh Yente, who passed away this past year on the 19th of Av.

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Noach – How to Become a Tzadik

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 29:01 — 13.3MB)

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Only one man is classified by the Torah as a “Tzadik”, the eponymous hero of our Parsha, Noah. “Tzadik” is generally translated as “righteous” or “upstanding”. Why doesn’t the Torah apply that appellation to other great figures, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or Moses?

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

#23: The Parameters of Divine Providence

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 1:00:01 — 27.5MB)

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A central tenet of Jewish theology is that the same Creator who created the Heavens and the Earth also supervises His creation on an ongoing basis. Moreover, that supervision, that oversight is personal and down to the most minute detail. As such, it would seem that everything that happens to us is the product of a divine decision. But what about the free will of others? What about the rigid rules of nature? Do these also play a role in determining what happens to a person? If yes, does that not detract from the notion of complete Godly oversight? In this podcast, we attempt to disentangle this knotty paradox into a neat, cogent principle outlining the parameters of divine providence.

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!